Books
by Crazy Hyper Lady
Summary: When Sofia was young she wasn't all that interested in books, strangely enough. It took only one to change that and lead her to a life-long journey of learning.


So my friend introduced me to Assassin's Creed on New Year's Eve, we played all night and I became obsessed in one sitting. XD

So! I decided to write a little fanfic about my two favorite characters! Sofia and Maria! Because in the books it tells us that Ezio and Altaïr are not directly related, but they are both related to Desmond, I came up with a little plot to connect the family lines. :D Hopefully I'll be able to turn this into a series of connected one-shots, but I don't have any major plans as of right now. Oh and Assassin's Creed and related characters and media were the wonderful brainchildren of Ubisoft. K'enjoythnxbye!

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><p>Sofia's love of books started early in life and quite abruptly. She was blessed to have been born into a well-educated, not to mention wealthy, family that had amassed a small library of literature from around the world.<p>

Every night her mother would read her to sleep, Sofia usually listened politely seeing as she was a very well-mannered young girl. She was still, however, a young girl who was more interested in flowers than old, dusty books. No book her mother read had ever truly held her attention. Until the journal.

"This has been passed down from generation to generation in our family," her mother explained as she held up the decaying parchments that looked to have already been rebound at least twice. "The writer of this journal is one of your grandmothers from almost 400 years ago."

"Really?" Sofia asked in wonder, someone from her own family had written this book. The thought fascinated her. "How long is 400 years, mother?"

"A long time mia ragazza," her mother smiled, "Would you like to know about her?"

"Sì," Sofia replied with an enthusiastic nod.

"Very well…"

.!.

_I am what they call the unusual one in my family. Growing up I always preferred the boys' games. Dolls weren't for me, much to my parents' exasperation; I would always rip their hair out. They represented everything I never wanted to be._

_My whole life it has always been dictated to me what a lady should behave like, but I have never wanted any of it. I dreamed of running off and finding a place in the world where simply being a woman wasn't synonymous with having my fate decided for me._

_My parents found me a suitor and forced me to marry, it was stifling and repressive and he disapproved of me continuing my sword practice. I no longer wanted to wait for the dreams of my childhood to come to pass on their own; I took my fate into my own hands._

_I heard of the Crusades taking place in the Holy Land and the Templar troops that are assisting in the fight against the Saracens, a recruitment troop was scouring the English countryside for volunteers. That was my chance. My 'husband' had an old suit of light armor that I took the liberty of relieving him of and I cut off the hair that once reached my back. To anyone who did not look closely I was a man. I joined the army, was trained in the ways of war and death and survival. I arrived in the Holy Land and was thrown straight into battle._

_I suppose I had taken for granted the sheltered childhood I had been blessed with, but I am now forever unable to return to the live I once lived. I was treated as a man within the ranks and I soon began to lose sight of who I was and where I had come from and where I was going. I was fighting an endless battle filled with loss and directionless despair._

_Robert de Sable found me for who I was. It was the first ray of light to point me toward a new purpose, he accepted me even though he knew I was a woman, he trained me, helped me understand and cope with all that was going on around us in this seemingly pointless war. He suggested I start this journal and write my feelings and already I can see how this will let me work through my problems, especially the ones that should not be vocalized, and help me face the future._

_I was losing myself here, in the Holy Lands, in the battles, in the death, but Robert is giving me a path to help me find myself again. I am Maria Thorpe, a soldier, a fighter, and I accept that I am also a woman. I am the master of my own fate._

.!.

Sofia was lost in the world of the Crusades, in stories of triumph and failures, of love and loss, of Assassins and Templars, of life in general and she was enthralled with every moment of it.

Every night she begged her mother for one more page, "Just one, please mother?"

Her mother would only laugh softly, sometimes she would agree and sometimes she would not.

Sofia would wind up wanting to know more about the Crusades that took place in the Holy Land, she found her father's library had several books of history. Her parents didn't see her for a month afterward.

One thing led to another and she grew addicted to the knowledge that she was gaining with every turn of the page. Books became first her hobby, then a passion, then her entire world as she would work to learn the ways of printing and binding and study about the great minds of the day.

The young girl grew and as did her love of books, but it all circled back around to the one that started it all. The Journal written by her (however many) great grandmother in the 12th-13th century and little did she know her love for that book would lead her to the beginnings of the same kinds of adventures that had once captivated her heart as a child.


End file.
